1915_05_24 The Divine Providence / The Divine Design

[Jackline Spasova-Bobeva]

 

The Book - The Spirit and The Flesh. Beinsa Douno

Translation from Bulgarian - Vessela Nestorova

 

THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE

 

But thhe very hairs of your head

are all numbered. Fear

not: ye are of more value than

many sparrows.²⁶

 

People today want many arguments, facts and logical inferences to be convinced that there is a Divine Providence which directs human life by certain Laws. All thoughts, desires and acts are determined by certain Laws. At times some things which happen in life are strange to you and you give them a wrong interpretation, in result of which in the course of many generations you have created the odd philosophy that everything is arbitrary in life, i.e. there is no Law and order, that might is right and only the prudent, the shrewd, succeed, and so on. Is there any need of proving that this is a great delusion?

 

As we observe Christ's life, we see that Christ always paid attention to little things. He said to His disciples, "Fear not, your life is insured," and as an example He points out that out of five sparrows not a single one falls to the ground without the will of the Father. Why did not Christ take one, but five sparrows? Here is a Law and everyone who is under the influence of number five, does not fall without the will of the Father. In the second comparison Christ says, "You are insured, the hairs on your head are all numbered," and there He stops. You may say, "Of what importance is it that the hairs of our head are all numbered? That is namely the important thing. If these hairs are numbered by God and He keeps account of them, they must have some significance by all means. Do you know the number of your hairs? Many have counted them. Some people have 250,000, others have 320,000 hairs. And God keeps an account of all these hairs as a gardener of his fruit-trees by putting a number on every tree. You may pull out a hair and throw it away, but this hair is doing some service on your head.

 

If I start discussing the meaning of the hairs²⁷, I shall digress from my subject, so I shall refer to the comparison of the sparrows, which means that our spiritual life is under the protection of the Divine Providence. The comparison of the hairs of the head implies on its part that our physical life is also under the protection of the Divine Providence. Now it is necessary for you to have faith in this Providence. If you believe in It, you can develop rightly. Every doubt, which enters your minds and hearts that there is no Providence in the world, draws you away from a right understanding of things and makes you create another order and other rules according to your own views. When a man and a woman get married, they think that God has given them a certain authority. The man says, "You have lived freely with your mother, but in my house you will be under a new Law. I am a bit quick-tempered and touchy, you must be careful with me, or I shall apply a strict Law if you offend me." The woman on her part says to her husband, "I am very sensitive, delicate, not used to heavy work. If you violate this Law, things will change immediately." As you see, all people work out their own Laws. What happens in the end? Both begin to quarrel. Why? Because the stand they have taken is false in its very foundation.

 

I say, real marriage was not created on the Earth. There are three kinds of marriages: some are contracted in heaven, others on the Earth; some are contracted by God, others by people, and still others by the devil. Every marriage established by God will bring Love, peace, joy, a bad word will not be heard and the spouses will live a blissful life. Every marriage established by people has the purpose of perfecting the couple: there will be frictions until the relations start running smoothly because two sharp stones do not grind flour. Such a marriage is not a creation of God, but of people and as the mind is, such will be your human deeds. When God creates something, as all- wise, He orders everything perfectly; but when people create something, there will be friction among them. This is necessary for their self-perfection and for polishing their characters. But when the devil marries people, then there is discord and lewdness in a home and all the worst things in life. In a home where there is such life, the marriage has been established by the devil. Thus, you must give a right definition to everything exactly and must not mix the acts of God with the human, or the devil's acts.

 

Therefore, to think rightly, logically, we must understand the source of things. If there is anything rational in the present day sciences, it is the fact that they establish the existence of certain Laws in the world, which regulate the relations of things, and no one can violate these Laws without bearing their consequences in one sense or another. Therefore, there are three kinds of people: some who perceive things in a Divine way; others in a human way, and a third category who perceive things in a devil's way. The first state is when a person perceives things as they were ordered in the beginning by God; the second state is when a person thinks that God does not take part in everything, therefore we must interfere and smooth things up a bit. That is why when God does something you say, "God has not been able to do it as He should, wait till we correct it." The third state is when a person wants to become God themselves. Thousands of years ago, humankind perceived things in a Divine way, but they lost this perception in the process of their decline. You, too, when in a good mood, believe in God and when things go smoothly you say, "Thank God, He takes care of us." But as soon as misfortunes come, you say, "God has forgotten us." I ask you, on what grounds do you maintain that God has forgotten you and He is the cause of all your sufferings? God says, since you forget me, I too shall forget you." If you draw away from Him, He, too, will draw away from you.

 

Some think that God, Who is changeless, in His Love, when they begin to draw away from Him, He must start after them as a mother after her child and cry, "Wait, my son, so not draw away from Me!" No. God keeps His place and when you say He is drawing away from you, I understand that you are drawing away from Him and not vice versa. The path of the movement of some people around God is right with insignificant changes—they draw away a little and approach Him again, as the course of the Earth round the Sun; while others' path is like a wandering comet which at times gets very near the Sun and then for centuries it does not get close to it. So when you draw away from God, you say, "God forgot us," but I say that in 75 years when you get close to Him like Halley's Comet, God will remember you again. This depends on the orbit on which you move around God. When your path gets close to Him, He will be reminded of you again.

 

Now you are all moving a certain way, but you cannot understand me equally. Why? Because you are not moving along the same orbit. But I am not judging you for that, because I look at things objectively, philosophically. You will answer, "Such is our way." It is a question of whether your way is such or you have made it such. I maintain that your way is not such. There is a railroad line between Sofia and Varna which is very often damaged and consumes much money for repairs—has God made this railway? If God has constructed it, it would have been made very wisely, but since people have made it, it is such as it is. If in constructing a railway line you would act according to the Laws of the Divine Providence, no accidents whatever would occur. And yet the technicians have a better conception of what is needed in a construction than Christian believers have of life. They say, "We must make mathematical calculations of the curves and declivities a train would make on its way, in order to regulate the power of the movement; if this is not done, many collisions will occur." The Christians, however, say, "God is good, He provides for us, no matter what slopes we take, it's all the same, He will help us." When the carriage turns over, they say, "Things are not going well." Of course they will not go well, because you act unwisely. Your train turns over because in establishing the Laws of railway lines, you have not taken into consideration the Laws of the Divine Providence.

 

That is why in some cases the spiritual people must use the experience of the worldly people and become their students. There is nothing shameful in being a student. When it comes to spiritual things unknown to the worldly people, then the latter must become students of the spiritual people. One cannot be a teacher in all cases—sometimes one will be a teacher and other times a student.

 

The Divine Providence has determined strictly all things and all phenomena—nothing in the world happens by chance. All events of whatever nature they may be—physical, psychic or social—are determined by a Higher Being, Who watches over their course. As an engine-driver is obliged to drive the train and be responsible for the life of the travelers inside, in the same way the Earth, which moves in space, has its engine-driver who at times puts more fuel in the engine and less at other times. In its movement the Earth makes certain curves by means of which sometimes it approaches a bigger planet which affects it. These are distant things which you will study and understand in the future.

 

Now to clarify the Divine Providence, Which is necessary to you, I shall tell you a story which you may take as a pre-historical legend, since the events it describes are allegorical. Some consider this story from the time of Solomon, but in my opinion the things spoken about refer to a much earlier epoch. The story goes that once upon a time lived a learned and wise king who understood the language of all animals. He summoned them every year to a congress where he taught them and in the end always concluded his speech with the words, "No one can spoil what God has made." At one of the Congresses two big eagles called Roka were present. One of them said, "I can spoil what God has made." The king said, "Very well, prove this by facts," and dismissed the Congress. The same year the daughter of another king was married to a prince. On returning from the temple the couple was happy in each other's company when one of the eagles swooped down, grabbed the bride and carried her off to his nest on top of a big tree on a desert island. The groom, after finding himself alone, in his despair started on a long voyage.

 

This young man got on a ship, which after a few months' travel suffered shipwreck and the waves washed the unfortunate groom ashore the same desert island where his bride was carried. He began to complain to God, "Was not my misfortune of losing my bride enough for me, oh, God, that I should be cast away on this desert island besides that? It were better for me not to have been born!" His wife, who was in the nest of the same tree beneath which the groom was bewailing his fate, heard that a man was weeping, came down of the tree and saw her groom. She then hid him in the nest. When the time for the next Congress came, the two eagles came, took the nest with the bride and carried it off to the Congress. The king made his speech again, ending it with the words, "No one can spoil what God has made." Then the eagle spoke up, "I spoiled one of God's deeds!" "Prove this," said the king. The eagle told the story of the marriage. The king wanted to see the bride. The eagle called the bride to come out of the nest. What was the amazement of the eagle, when along with her came her groom! When he saw he could not spoil what God had made, the eagle burst its sides with rage. By eagle in this story, we must understand the human mind. We say sometimes that we can spoil what God has made, to spoil the form of things, but in the end things remain such as God made them. And then we, as the proud eagle, remain deceived.

 

Teachers today preach all the time, "Mind your step! The world cannot be run by foolishness." I say, thank to the foolish for God keeps the world for their sake. There are not more clever spirits than the devils. Have you ever visited their kingdom to see how they live? You speak of human intelligence, but if you go down to these fallen spirits, you will see that they have knowledge of physics, chemistry, and psychic activities as well. They have much knowledge by which they may deceive you, or do anything, but their knowledge cannot introduce Law and order into the world because it does not rest on those elements which can cement life. Knowledge of all kinds must be cemented by the Divine Love. Therefore, when one speaks of knowledge and facts, I ask, "Have you got cement to cement these things? If you have this cement, you actually have Divine knowledge. However, if you have only bare facts without cement, they cannot be of use to you." I ask if you should collect 200,000 or a million hairs of a sheep and do not know how to consolidate them, of what profit will they be to you? Only when you spin and weave them in a definite way can you make yourself a garment out of them.

 

By the same Law, when you can cement your thoughts and desires by the Divine cement—the Divine Providence—you will be able to make yourself a garment and clothe your inner nakedness. This Providence is necessary to all, so that you may live and develop. That is why Christ says, "Fear not, ye are of more value than many sparrows." You are better than many sparrows. Here you have the number five—five sparrows, five senses, and five fingers. The number five is an emblem symbolizing the human being on earth. This number signifies the sensible, the wise person. It says that this wise person does not fall until they sin. So long as you are wise and do the will of God, you will not fall; however, the day you sin, God will allow one of the sparrows to fall to the ground. As soon as a sparrow falls, the hairs of your head will begin to fall, which means that your life will begin to be destroyed.

 

Thus, always keep in mind that the Divine Providence watches over you so long as you walk steadily by God's Laws. As soon as you draw away from Him, your life begins to disintegrate. Turn to the Sun of this Providence again in order to start growing anew.

 

Sermon held on May 24, 1915, in Sofia.

 

______________________

26. Luke 12:7.

27. According to the Master, human hairs serve as antennae through which we receive thoughts from the Spiritual World in the very same way a radio picks up different frequencies. Our task is to learn to distinguish among the sources of the different types of messages we get this way (ed. note).

 

 

[hristo]

From  Peace be with you

 

Divine Providence

 

 

"But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, you are better than many sparrows." (Luke 12:7)

 

Contemporary people have to be convinced with many arguments, facts and logical conclusions that there is a Divine Providence, Which, through certain laws, guides the life of man.

 

All thoughts, desires and actions are determined by certain laws. Occasionally we give a distorted interpretation to what occurs in life, to what is strange for us, and as a consequence we have formed, through the passage of time and amidst many generations, a peculiar philosophy, that everything in the world is arbitrary, i.e. that there is no order, no regulation, that the right belongs to whoever is strong, to whoever is clever, to whoever is sly etc. Is there a need for me to prove that this is a great delusion?

 

When we observe the life of Christ, we can see that Christ always paid attention to the small things. He says directly to His disciples: "Fear not therefore: your life is provided for" and gives them an example that from the five sparrows not a single one falls to the ground without the will of the Father. Why did Christ not take one sparrow, but took the number five? Here there is a law, and everyone who finds themselves in this law of the number five does not fall down without the will of the Father. With the second comparison Christ tells us: "You are provided for, the hairs of your head are all numbered" - and He stops there. We may say to ourselves: "What importance is there, that the hairs of our head have all been numbered?" Just so, there is the thing of importance. For these hairs to be counted by the Lord, for Him to keep account of them, they must have some sort of meaning in themselves. And do you know how many of these hairs there are on the head? Many have counted them. Some people have 250 thousand, others 320 thousand hairs. And all these hairs are accounted for by the Lord, as a gardener keeps account of his fruit trees - he puts a number on each tree. We may uproot a hair from our head and throw it away, but this hair serves a certain purpose, it occupies a high post on our head. If I now set out to tell you about the significance [1] of the hairs, I will deviate from the issue [at hand], but I will come to the comparison with the sparrows, which implies that our spiritual life is under the protection of the Divine Providence; and the comparison with the hairs of the head also implies, in its turn, that our physical life, too, is under the protection of the same Divine Providence. It is necessary for faith in this Providence to be established [2] in us, because, only when we believe in It, are we able to develop correctly. Every doubt which penetrates into our minds and into our hearts, that in the world there is no Providence, distances us from the correct understanding of the order of things, and compels us to labor to create another order and other rules, according to our views. A man and a woman, when they become married, think that the Lord has given them power; the husband [3] says: "You have lived with your mother in this way, but now you are entering my house under a new law. I am a little quick-tempered, touchy, I take offence easily - watch out, because if you offend me, I will apply this harsh [4] law". The wife [3], however, tells her husband: "I am very sensitive, delicate, I am not used to work, do not make me do hard work: if you breach this law, things will change immediately". As you can see, all people prepare their own laws. But what happens in the end? Both of them fall into disagreement. Why? Because the position which they have taken is false in its very foundations. The true [actual] good marriage is not something which is made on Earth. There are three kinds of marriages: ones which are accomplished in Heaven, others - on the Earth and the third kind - in Hell; ones are carried out by God, others - by people and the third - by the devil. When you enter into a marriage established by God, it will bring love, peace and joy in your home; there will always be agreement between the man and the woman; a harsh word will not be heard; they will spend a blissful life. When people unite you, it will only be [so] in order for you to perfect yourselves: there will be friction between you in order to smooth yourselves, because two sharp stones cannot mill flour [5]. This marriage is not a creation of God, but a human one; [so, ] your work will be according to your mind. When the Lord performs a certain work, as omniscient, He puts everything in good order; when people arrange something, they will order it [only] insofar as there will always be friction, which is necessary for self-perfection, for the smoothing-out of the character. But when the devil marries you, then at home there will certainly be discord and lewdness - everything bad. In every home in which there is such a life, the marriage has been brought about by the devil. Therefore, give to everything its precise definition and do not mix God's actions with the human ones, nor with those of the devil.

 

In order to be able to think correctly and logically, we must understand the source [, the origin] of things. If there is something prudent in the modern-day sciences, it is this, that they ascertain that there exist in the world certain laws which regulate the relations of things, of the elements, of the bodies; we have established laws of physics, of chemistry, of the human soul, laws which regulate the relations of things, and no one can transgress these laws without bearing the consequences in one sense or another. And thus, there are three types of people: one type, who comprehend things in a Divine way, another type - in a human way, and the third type - in a diabolical way; the first case is when we comprehend things as they are determined in the beginning by the Lord; the second [case ] is when one thinks that the Lord does not involve Himself in all things and that we should interfere to smooth-out these things; when the Lord accomplishes something, we say: "The Lord did not manage to finish it; let us correct it; the third case is when every one by themselves wishes to become the Lord. Thousands of years ago people comprehended things in a Divine way, but in their decline they lost this comprehension. So, when you are in a good disposition, in your soul you, too, believe in God; if your affairs are going well you say: "Thanks be to God, the Lord takes care of us"; but when a misfortune comes, you say: "The Lord has forgotten us". On what grounds do you claim that the Lord has forgotten you, that He is the cause of your sufferings? The Lord says: "Because you forget Me, I also will forget you". If you distance yourselves from Him, He also will distance Himself from you. Some think that God, Who is unchangeable, constant in His love, should still follow after them when they begin to distance themselves from Him, as a mother follows her child, while calling: "Wait, my son, do not distance yourself from me". No! The Lord stands in His place and when you say: "The Lord has distanced Himself from me", I understand that you have distanced yourselves from Him, not He from you. The path of motion of some people around the Lord is correct, with insignificant changes: they move away from Him a little, but then again draw near, like the path of the Earth around the Sun; the path of others, however, is like the path of some wandering comet: sometimes it draws too near to the Sun and then for centuries does not come close. So you, too, when you distance yourselves from the Lord, you say: "The Lord has forgotten us". I tell you, in 75 years, when you approach Him like Halley's Comet, the Lord will remember you again: it depends on the orbit in which you move around the Lord - when your path draws near to Him, He will remember you again. And now all of you move along a certain path, but you cannot [all] understand me equally - why? - because not all of you follow one and the same orbit. And I do not condemn you: I look at things very objectively, philosophically. But you will object: "Such is our way". It is questionable whether your way is such, or whether you have made it to be like this. I say to you that your path is not like this. Between Sofia and Varna there is a railroad which constantly breaks down and incurs great expenses; is this road made by the Lord? If the Lord had built it, it would have been built most cleverly; but people have built it, and this is why they have built it as cleverly as they have! If during the building of a railroad you act according to the laws of Divine Providence, no misfortunes will occur. Nevertheless the technicians have a better comprehension of the needs of a construction than the believing Christians do - of life; they [the technicians] say: "we have to mathematically calculate what turns and gradients [6] the railroad has to have along its way very well, so that the force of the movement may be regulated, because if this is not done, there will be an accident", whereas the Christians say to themselves: "The Lord is good; He provides for us; whatever gradient we make, it is all the same". But when the car tumbles over, they say: "Our affairs do not go well". Of course they will not go well, because you act foolishly; your train tumbles over because you have not taken into account the laws of Divine Providence when you established the turns of the rail lines.

 

That is why you, the spiritual people, will have to gather experience from the secular people in some cases, [you have] to become their students. It is not shameful for a man to be a student. And when it comes to spiritual things, unknown to the secular people, there the latter have to be your students. You cannot be teachers everywhere - somewhere you will be teachers, somewhere you will be students.

 

The Divine Providence has strictly determined all things and phenomena; nothing is by chance; all events, of whatever character they may be - physical, psychic or social - are governed and directed by a superior Being, who guards and watches over their course. In the same way as they place a locomotive-driver to watch over the engine of the train, because the life of the passengers depends on the locomotive-driver, so our Earth, which moves through space, has its own locomotive-driver, who sometimes applies more fire to the engine, sometime less. The path of the Earth also has certain curves, turns, the Earth sometimes draws nearer to some larger planet, which influences her. These are abstract things, which, in the future, you will study and understand. But now regarding Divine Providence, Which is necessary for you, I will give you an example - a story which you may take as a prehistoric legend, because the events described in it are inconceivable, allegorical. Some date this story to the time of Solomon, but the things mentioned in the story relate to a much earlier epoch. They say that once there was a very learned and clever king, who understood the language of all animals; when he summoned the animals every year for an assembly, he taught them, he instructed them, and in the end he [always] concluded his speech with the words: "What the Lord has created, no one can destroy". At one of the assemblies two large eagles were present, called "rocka" [7]; one of them said: "I can destroy what the Lord has created". The king said: "Very well, prove this factually" and dismissed the assembly. In the same year the daughter of another King set about to marry, again for a King's son. When they were being wedded and were returning from the temple, rejoicing in each other, one of the eagles swept down, lifted the bride, carried her to a remote island and laid her down on its nest in a big tree. The bridegroom, left alone without his beloved-friend, fell into despair and embarked upon a journey. He boarded a ship; after months at sea the ship wrecked and the waves cast ashore the despairing traveler on the same island where his beloved-friend was taken to. He began complaining to the Lord: "Is it not enough for me, O God, the misfortune of losing my wife, that now I am cast on this deserted island? It would have been better if I were not born!" His wife, who was in the nest on the same tree under which the bridegroom was lamenting his fate, heard that someone was crying, came down and when she saw that this was her same husband, she hid him in the nest. When the time approached for the next assembly of the animals, the two eagles came, lifted the nest with the bride and carried it to the assembly. The King began his lecture anew and in the end again concluded with the words: "What God has created, no one can destroy"; then the eagle called out again: "I destroyed a deed of the Lord". - "Prove this", said the King. When the eagle had narrated the story of the wedding, the King wished to see the bride. The eagle called to the bride to come out of the nest. But, when she came out, together with her also came out the bridegroom. The eagle, when he saw that he was not able to ruin what the Lord has created, burst from anger. By the eagle, the human mind is to be understood. We sometimes say that we can ruin what God has created, that we can change the form of things, but in the ultimate end things stay as God has ordered them, and we, like the proud eagle, in our anger break into pieces.

 

The modern-day teachers say at every turn: "Prepare your mind well [8], the world cannot advance with foolishness [9]". I say: thank the foolish, since the Lord holds the world because [10] of them. In the world there are no spirits more clever than the devils. Have you ever entered their kingdom, to see how they live? You speak of human intelligence, but, if you descend to these fallen spirits, you will find conceptions about physics, about chemistry, about spiritual manifestations - a lot of knowledge [in order] to tell a lie, to deceive, to do anything. But their knowledge cannot introduce order and harmony into things, because it does not rest upon those elements which are able to cement life. Knowledge must be cemented through Divine Love. Therefore, whenever someone speaks of knowledge and of facts, I ask: do you have cement to bind these things? If you have this cement, then indeed you have Divine knowledge; but if you have bare facts, without cement, they cannot be of any use to you. I ask you: if you gather 200 thousand or a million sheep fleece hairs and you do not know how to join them, of what use will they be to you? Only when you spin and weave them in a certain way will you be able to fashion clothes and dress yourselves. According to the same law, when we are able to cement within ourselves our thoughts, our desires, through this Divine cement, the Divine Providence, we will be able to fashion a garment with which to dress our inner nakedness. Therefore, we need this Providence in order to be able to live and to develop. And this is why Christ says: "Fear not" and asks why the five sparrows do not fall. You have the number five elsewhere: five senses, five fingers; this is the emblem of man on Earth. The number five represents man - the prudent, wise man - and He [Christ] says that this wise man does not fall unless he errs. While you are prudent and fulfill the Will of God, you shall not fall; the day, however, when you err, the Lord will allow one of these sparrows to fall to the ground, and as soon as it falls, the hairs of you head will start to fall as well, which means: your life will start to crumble. And so, always bear in mind that the Divine Providence watches over you as long as you unswervingly follow Its laws; if you drift away from It, your life begins to fall apart. Turn again to the Sun of this Providence, so that the growth may start again.

 

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Notes:

 

[1] or meaning

[2] literally: created

[3] In Bulgarian, there is a single word for "husband", "male" and "man", and similarly for "wife", "female" and "woman"

[4] or strict

[5] This is a literal translation of a Bulgarian idiom.

[6] i.e. slopes

[7] A monstrous bird of Arabian mythology; also written as "rock", and "rukh".

[8] This is a literal translation of a Bulgarian proverb which means: get ready, be prepared for something, be warned etc

[9] literally: "foolish things"

[10] Another reading is: "for their sake"